Five years after CDA developed a proposal to reduce barriers to dental care in California, several of the proposal’s objectives have come to pass. Most notably was the 2015 installation of Jayanth Kumar, DDS, MPH, as state dental director. And now, thanks in part to the passage of Proposition 56, the state oral health plan that CDA and other stakeholders helped develop over the past year will receive a significant financial boost of $30 million annually.

The Department of Health Care Services on June 30 announced hundreds of procedure codes will receive a 40 percent supplemental rate increase as the result of Proposition 56, the tobacco tax measure sponsored and supported by CDA and approved by voters last November. Over $1 billion of the tobacco tax revenue is allocated to improved payments to physicians and dentists who treat Medi-Cal patients.

As California’s new fiscal year starts, dentists can expect significant reimbursement increases for hundreds of procedures covered by Denti-Cal because of the passage of CDA-sponsored and supported Proposition 56, the tobacco tax measure. With anticipated federal participation, it is expected that an estimated $300 million in additional funding will be committed to increasing coverage for dental care in the program.

Gov. Jerry Brown and the California Legislature engaged in heated negotiations before passing a final budget by a constitutionally mandated deadline of June 15. A major focus of those negotiations was the use of Proposition 56 tobacco tax revenues, for which CDA and its partners engaged in an internal and external advocacy campaign.

CDA encourages dentists to share their opposition to Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal for Proposition 56 funds that voters intended to be used for improving access to care. CDA, the California Medical Association and coalition partners are strongly advocating for Proposition 56 funding to be used as voters intended. Dentists may have their voices heard by visiting www.protectmedi-cal.org and submitting a petition to state legislative leaders, who will make final budget decisions very soon.

Two dozen students from California’s six dental schools descended upon the state Capitol over two days in February and March to meet with legislators and discuss issues of pressing importance to the dental profession while gaining insights on the legislative process. These meetings form the backbone of CDA’s Grassroots Advocacy Days and all students arrived with an interest in improving legislative policy as it relates to public health.

CDA is excited to report that Proposition 56, co-sponsored by CDA to raise the state’s tobacco tax by $2, passed overwhelmingly in yesterday’s election with 62 percent of the vote. Winning a ballot measure campaign in California is a massive undertaking, especially with an opposition as powerful and well-funded as the tobacco industry.

In the days leading up to the Nov. 8 General Election, the Yes on 56 campaign to save lives and increase access to health care by increasing the state’s tobacco tax continues to win endorsements, debunk Big Tobacco’s dishonest advertising and encourage supporters to continue their grassroots efforts to ensure Proposition 56 passes at the polls.

In the final countdown to the November election, the Yes on Prop. 56 campaign to increase California’s tobacco tax is gathering major endorsements and strongly fighting back against Big Tobacco’s dishonest advertising.

CDA is gearing up for the Yes on 56 campaign to raise California’s tobacco tax and is distributing promotional campaign materials to local component dental societies, dental schools, specialty groups and ethnic societies.

The secretary of state officially validated the tobacco tax measure for the November ballot on June 30 and announced that it will be Proposition 56. This is the result of efforts by the Save Lives California coalition, a partnership of health care and other organizations including CDA, which worked to get this life-saving initiative on the Nov. 8 statewide ballot.

The Save Lives California coalition, a coalition of health care organizations including CDA, continues to move forward with a ballot measure campaign to raise the state's tobacco tax by $2 per pack. The campaign recently submitted more than enough signatures to qualify a life-saving tobacco tax initiative for the Nov. 8, 2016, statewide ballot.

Dentists interested in signing petitions to qualify a ballot measure to increase the state's tobacco tax by $2 should contact their local components right away. CDA delivered petition forms to all local components, and those signatures must be returned to CDA by April 15.

The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research has awarded more than $2 million in first-year funding to seven research grants centered on studying the effects of electronic cigarettes on oral and craniofacial tissues. The timing of the awards is critical as research shows an increasing number of high school students, approximately 13.4 percent, are now using e-cigarettes.

CDA and the Save Lives California coalition urge dentists across the state to sign petitions to qualify a ballot measure to increase the state's tax on tobacco products by $2. The campaign now has one month remaining to collect signatures.

CDA applauds action by the state Assembly, which approved a package of six bills that will strengthen tobacco regulations, prevent cancer and save lives. Supported by CDA and the Save Lives California coalition, the bills increase the legal smoking age in California from 18 to 21 and regulate e-cigarettes by treating them as tobacco products.

CDA and the Save Lives California coalition are encouraging dentists across the state to take action by signing a petition to make sure the ballot measure to increase the state’s tax on tobacco products by $2 per pack qualifies for the November ballot. CDA has delivered petition forms to all local components to help collect signatures. Every signature that CDA members can collect saves vital campaign resources that the coalition will need to counter the tobacco industry.

CDA and the Save Lives California coalition have launched the signature-gathering phase of a ballot measure campaign to increase the state's tax on tobacco products by $2 per pack. The coalition will have until April 26 to collect the required amount of signatures to qualify the "California Healthcare, Research and Prevention Tobacco Act of 2016" for the November ballot and the campaign has a comprehensive program to ensure enough signatures are collected. CDA will be reaching out to components and grassroots leaders to provide members with an opportunity to sign the petitions to help qualify the measure.

Recent Field Poll results released in November showed strong support for taxing and regulating electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), a key component of the 2016 ballot measure submitted by the Save Lives California coalition, of which CDA is a member, that will prevent smoking. Almost three in four California voters (74 percent) favor taxing e-cigarettes and vaping products. A sizeable majority of Californians correctly views e-cigarettes as a danger to public health and 71 percent believe that e-cigarettes contribute to teens becoming addicted to tobacco.

The Save Lives California coalition, which CDA is part of, has filed its final version of a ballot measure for the November 2016 election to raise the state’s tobacco tax by $2 per pack. The coalition had committed to pursuing a ballot measure if the Legislature was unable to pass legislation this summer, and with no legislative action at the end of this year’s session, the coalition is moving ahead with a ballot measure campaign.

CDA and the Save Lives California coalition are encouraging supporters to sign an online petition urging the state Legislature to raise the state's tobacco tax and have launched a statewide digital advertising campaign to mobilize support for the effort.

The Save Lives California coalition that CDA is a member of continues to move forward in its efforts to fight tobacco use during this year’s special legislative session on health care. The special session will resume when the Legislature returns from its summer recess on Aug. 17 and will include consideration of the coalition’s proposal to increase the state’s tobacco tax by $2 per pack, which would provide additional funding for the Medi-Cal program as well as smoking prevention and education programs.

CDA has joined Save Lives California, a coalition of groups seeking to save thousands of lives by raising California’s cigarette tax. “Dentists have long stood as an important line of defense not just for our patients’ oral health, but also their overall health,” said CDA President Walt Weber, DDS.

The Save Lives California coalition, of which CDA is a member, filed two ballot measures for the November 2016 ballot that would increase the tax on cigarettes by $2 per pack and allocate the estimated $1.5 billion in additional revenue for smoking prevention and smoking-related costs incurred by the state’s Medi-Cal program. One version is for standard cigarettes, and the other would extend the tax to electronic cigarettes if the state follows through with a current proposal to label them as tobacco products.

CDA is supporting new legislation that would remove tobacco from baseball stadiums in California and increase the tax on cigarettes. According to the FDA, tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of disease, disability and death in the United States, responsible for more than 480,000 deaths each year.

With the passing of Major League Baseball great Tony Gwynn from mouth cancer, CDA reminds dentists that there are many resources available to help their patients stop using tobacco and smokeless tobacco products. Though Gwynn's mouth cancer was never medically linked to the use of smokeless tobacco, he believed it was related to his cancer diagnosis. Experience shows that an oral cancer lesion, which often grows slowly and may be painless, can easily be overlooked by a patient who has "had this spot forever."

CDA applauds the decision by CVS Caremark to discontinue the sale of tobacco products. For decades, CDA and other health organizations have been warning tobacco users of the dangers of these products and urging them to kick the habit. CVS recently announced that it will stop selling cigarettes and all tobacco products at its more than 7,600 stores nationwide by Oct. 1.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched a new public awareness campaign around the dangers of tobacco use. The youth tobacco prevention campaign, “The Real Cost,” launched Feb. 11 and will run across multiple media platforms, including TV, radio, print and online for at least a year.